Reading Notebook

1776. David McCullough.

I thought McCullough's John Adams was fantastic, and this is a "companion" book to that. It covers the beginning of the Revolutionary War similar to the biography, with lots of letters, diary entries, etc. It reads much more like a novel than a history. And I found this book also fantastic. The only thing is it ends after the battle of Trenton, which is considered the turning point in the war. But I really wanted to keep reading the rest of the war story too. Perhaps not quite as detailed as 1776, but the remaining years are, at this point to me, largely an unknown. And I would like McCullough's narrative to inform me, rather than histories that are available.

• "It was a day and age that saw no reason why one could not learn whatever was required -- learn virtually anything -- by the close study of books...."

  I recall once having a discussion about this with a person in a bar. He was adamant that the above was true, and I was arguing against it. Mainly because I had just gotten my only C in college trying to learn Godel's theorem of incompleteness from a book (because the professor in the class wasn't very good, in my opinion!) I kind of go back and forth on this now. I suppose much of it depends on how good the author is at conveying what he is trying to teach, and how attentive and desirous the reader is of gaining true understanding.

• "Reed, who seemed older and wiser than his years, had tried always to take a large, philosophical view of life's travails, and this, in combination with a natural cheerfulness and a strong, analytical mind, had put him at the head of the legal profession in Phildelphia..." And then the quote from Reed:

  "When I lok round and see how few of the numbers who talked so largely of death and honor are around me, and that those who are here are those from whom it was least expected... I am lost in wonder and surprise. Your noisy sons of liberty are, I find, the quietest in the field... An engagement, or even the expectatoin of one, gives a wonderful insight into character."

Little Earthquakes. Jennifer Weiner.

I liked Good in Bed enough to read this book by Weiner as well. Since Kelly is 8 months pregnant, and this book is about pregnant women who have their babies and what they go through the 1st year or so, this book was apropos. I enjoyed the way each of the three ladies raised their children in entirely different ways. Weiner may have taken it to the extremes, but we've seen somewhat the same thing with the play group (s).

A few quotes:

• "I could have told him that nothing was safe and that no matter how careful you were and how hard you tried, there were still accidents, hidden traps, and snares. You could get killed on an airplane or crossing the street.... I could have said that nothing is safe, that the surface of the world is pretty and sane, but underneath it's all fault lines and earhtquakes waiting to happen..."
• "You have to let people be who they want, even if it's not what you want them to be."
• Towards the end there was a line about how one couple had a picture in their heads, when they got married, about how it was all going to be -- their marriage, having a child, etc. But it didn't really turn out that way for them. I think that's true for almost everyone!

Ulysses. James Joyce.

Well, I hate to admit it but I didn't get very far into this book -- just 2 chapters. After visiting Ireland in September I thought this would be a good read since it is about a day in the life of some people in Dublin. But I just couldn't get into it. I did read a fair amount of the on-line version of the Cliff Notes, though.

 

War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy.

Try as I might, I just could not get into this book. I read perhaps 200 pages, but I was never drawn in. Nadia suggested that this book needs long periods of time, such as a long flight, to really enjoy and take an interest, but I never found that. Maybe I will come back to it someday.

 

Lady in the Lake. Bernard Conners.

While we were in Lake Placid, we took a boat tour and learned about the story of a woman's body that was found in the lake, nearly perfectly preserved, after many many years. This is the true story of that, written by the agent in charge of the investigation. No one knows if it was a suicide, accident, or murder, though the consensus at the time was likely suicide. Conners also wrote Dance Hall, which I have not read yet, which is a fictionalized version of the story.

 

Ireland. Eye Witness Travel Guides. DK.

Our neighbors Nikki and Geoff are in Ireland for 9 months, so we took advantage and went to stay with them for about 10 days. While they had lots of maps and guides, we used this book a lot to help decide what we wanted to do. DK always does a good job with lots of pictures and very brief descriptions of places or things to do. Sometimes the descriptions are too brief, but if you want to fit a whole country into a book I guess that is what you have to do. And the maps leave a lot to be desired, especially in a place like Ireland where the road infrastructure is not great. Luckily we had several other map books to help us find our way around the place!

 

The Da Vinci Code. Special Illustrated Edition. Dan Brown.

When I read Angels and Demons I found myself searching the Internet for pictures of many of the art works described. This special illustrated edition of the Da Vinci Code solves that problem by including many pictures of art, buildings, etc. in the book, so it saves a lot of time. :-)

This book is a quick read like Angels and Demons, and is engrossing. While this book is a novel it is sometimes written as historical fact and many readers may not have enough of a proper background in certain areas, such as the canonization of the New Testament. I'd highly recommend reading all or at least some sections of an apologetic book, such as the Case for Christ (see below), that discuss the early church, the early writings of the early church, etc. I feel that Brown's depictions of these events are not true to what most historians agree on.

 

The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini.

I've wanted to read this since all incoming UNC freshman had to read it last year as part of their summer reading program and that caused such a fuss. I think every book they chose causes a fuss, but this one seemed especially interesting. So we finally got it and it was really good. It ties in pre-war Afghanistan (pre-soviet war) with many things that happened since then up to today, with a very personal and engrossing story. I was captured early on and found it hard to put down. Well worth the read!

 

 

Good in Bed. Jennifer Weiner.

I had seen this book in stores a while back and when it showed up in a pile my Mom was getting rid of I grabbed it. I have to admit that I needed a break from War and Peace and this was a good fit. I also admit that the book was not at all what I expected, even after the 1st 50-100 pages, and I really enjoyed it. As always I hate to give spoilers, but it really hit me emotionally. Maybe it's having a 3 yr old daughter, or a baby boy on the way. Or maybe it was the Sam Adams I had at the Boston Logan bar waiting for my plane where I read most of this! Either way, I'm really glad I got to read this.

Only a couple of quotes:

• "... I can't change things other people in my family do, but I can change how I react to them." This really holds true for everyone in your life -- friends, co-workers, and family alike.
• She said it a little different later in the book ".... you can't control what they do but you can control how you respond to it."
• "Here you are. You are Here. And you move forward because that's the way it works; that's the only place you can go. You keep going until it stops hurting, or until you find new things to hurt you worse, I guess. And that is the human condition, all of us lurtching along in our own private miseries, because that's the way it is...."

Systematic Theology. Wayne Gruden.

I happened to see this book in a B&N store accidently, and it looked good, so a few days later I went online and read some reviews and based on those (all 5 stars!) I decied to order it. I'm using this as a reference though I think it would be great to sit down and read it cover to cover some day. But it is long and detailed and that would be tough.

There are several great things about this book. First there is the standard index which is fine, but in addition, there is an index based on Bible book/chapter/verse. So if you are studying a given book, you can just look up that book/chapter/verse to see if Systematic Theology references it anywhere. In addition, there are exhaustive explanations of various theological themes, such as election/predestination, church governement, etc. I've found this book very useful and highly recommend it.

 

The Wedding. Nicholas Sparks.

Kelly bought this right before we left for a weekend get-a-way to New Bern, where Sparks is from. As we were leaving the Aerie bed and breakfast, the owners noticed Kelly holding the book and told us Sparks once used the living room of the Inn for his book club!

I'd have to agree with Kelly that this was not as good as The Notebook and did become a bit predictable, although I must admit my guess was slightly off from the final outcome. I won't say more as I don't like to have spoilers here in my reading notebook.

Overall it's a fast decent read and a nice break from some of the non-fiction I've been reading.

Angelds and Demons. Dan Brown.

Someone told me I should read this before I read the Da Vinci code, and when I saw it at my Mom's house I asked if I could borrow it. The book is a very fast read and is engaging -- I was hooked and often did not want to stop reading so I could find out what was going to happen.

I won't say much more as I'd probably then have spoilers.... But here's a few interesting tid bits:

• Is the thumbs up sign really the anient phallic symbol for masculin virility?? (p. 23)
• "Faiths . . . all faiths . . . are admonitions that there is something we cannot understand, something to which we are accountable. With faith, we are acountable to each other, to ourselves, and to a higher truth. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed."
• There was a line about Jesus suffering his pain for three days before ascending, which seems flawed, unless he suffered from the time of his death on his cross until the time he ascended, but maybe I'm forgetting something or missing something.

The Case for Christ. Lee Strobel.

I'm always a bit skeptical of apologetics, but Drew, our youth pastor and a member of the tuesday night small group we have at our house suggested it, and told me I could get it at the grocery store in town, I thought I'd give it a shot. It's the personal journey of a journalist who started out as a skeptic, but took the time to do all of his own research, and slowly became a believer. In this book he interviews many experts on various things and slowly builds up a case of evidence for Christ.

So why am I skeptical of apologetics? Well, it's hard to explain. I am normally very much a head person -- or a logical person, but when it comes to my faith, I'm instead a heart person. I can use my head to find holes in all kinds of arguments for God or for Christ. (Well, maybe that's not quite right. I find the idea of God easy, the idea of Christ harder, and the idea of eternitiy I just can't grasp.)

Anyway, the book is all apologetic and I'm all heart on things of faith, but I still found well worth the read. One thing I would like to see is interviews with non-believers. Strobel only interviews Christians. While there was at least one Jewish convert and I think there was one that started as a skeptic, most of them were all deeply rooted in their Christian faith. However, all of them said the studies in their areas of expertise has only deepened their faith, never lessened it.

A few quotes:

• ... evidence can never compel or coerce faith... (This goes along with what I was saying above re: apologetics and head vs. heart)
• ... you love your wfie because she's gorgeous, she's nice, she's sweet, she's kind. All of these things are facts about your wife, and therefore you love her. But your love goes beyond that. You can know all these things about your wife and not be in love with her and put your trust in her but you do. So the decision goes beyond the evidence, and yet it is there also on the basis of the evidence.

Overall the book is worth reading for both believer and non-believer alike.

 

The New Strong-Willed Child. Dr. James Dobson.

After reading this book, perhaps Riley is not quite as strong willed as I thought! Some of the examples given were quite amazing. However, when I look around at many of Riley's friends, I'm still convinced she is more strong willed than just about all of them! (One is quite similar to her...)

One key point that I liked is that God gives us children that we can handle -- in other words, we are meant to raise the kids we have. I take comfort in the fact that God does not give us children beyond our capabilities. Of course, it's a learning process on both ends! The quote is:

The Lord gave me his challending child for a purpose. He wants me to mold and shape this youngster and prepare him or her for a life of service to Him. And I'm up to the task..... There's a tendency ... for parents of strong willed children to feel cheated and oppressed because other moms and dads seem to have smooth sailing with there children, whereas they are at war every day of the week. But if they can perceive their task as a God-given assignment and believe that He's going to help them to fulfill it, then the frustrations become more manageable.

Overall the book is worth the read, though I can see were some parents -- both Christian and non-Christian, will not like some of the things Dobson has to say, especially in regards to corporal punishment. However, I'm with him (and Rosemond) that if done in a loving and controlled way, corporal punishment is NOT anywhere near child abuse.

 

Quicksilver. Volume One of the Baroque Cycle . Neal Stephenson.

Stephenson is the author of my favorite magazine article of all time, although it's so long maybe it should be considered a novella. You can find it on-line at wired magazine by searching goole for FLAG and Stephenson. A great write-up of laying of a large fiber optic cable around the world. He also wrote Cryptonomicon which my Dad sent me out of the blue and was very good. So when someone recommended a historical fiction work by him that I had not heard of, I was excited. But I did not know what I was getting into!!!

This is volume one a series of 3 very long books -- about 1000 pages each. And within each book are 3 smaller books that at first don't seem related but then slowly blend in together. As historical fiction the book blends real characters with fictional characters, and the story that is woven is quite fascinating, though it does take some time to develop. I've talked to a couple of folks who never did finish as they never found the story, but I promise if you keep reading you will, and it is quite good. The plots and sub plots, and coups, in religion, politics, economics/investing, and science are all quite fascinating.

The cracking of the code is a fascinating story... Wilkins, a natural philospher from the era and a character in the book, created the "Real Language." As part of the promotion of this book, a web site was published that had a message in the Real Language, and Todd Garrison was able to crack it. Read the story here.

Purpose Driven Life . Rick Warren.

Our church, Pittsboro Baptist, had a purpose driven campaign and as part of that we had many small groups in the community that studied this book. Our normal group got so large that we had to split into a couple of groups, so Kelly and I decided to host one at our home. And then the group at our house got even larger so we had to have two groups at our home, one in the family room and one in the library -- at least on nights when everyone was present. And we have continued the small study group at our house now that the purpose driven study is over as we have enough interest to maintain two groups.

This book has had quite a history in the short time it's been published, with many churches having purpose driven campaigns. And most recently Ashley Smith used it when an escaped prisoner and accused murder kidnapped her. After reading to him from the book he let her go and the situation ended peacefully.

Most folks in our church and small group really enjoyed the book and got a lot out of it. Even if you have been a Christian for many years it is worth reading to remind yourself of "what it all means." Rick really puts many aspects of a Christian life into a concise guide that is easy to follow and understand over 40 days.

 

Gone With the Wind. Margaret Mitchell.

This is one of my Mom's all time favorites so I've been wanting to read it for a while. She gave it to me for Christmas, and I started reading it just before we left for Hawaii. With all the flying time I was able to read much of the book in just a few days, and finished it up mid-way through January. (Read time diminished once we got back to the real world!)

I have to admit that I quickly got engrossed in the story and there were times I found it hard to put down. It's not a philosophical book, or one that makes you sit back and think a lot, but perhaps it should be. Scarlet O'Hara is a person who often didn't think about things, wasn't introspective, and couldn't read others very well -- at least until near the end of the book when it was really too late. Mayber there's a lesson to learn there.

We just finished a study of the gospel of John, and in the last chapter, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. Some of this may be absolving Peter from the guilt he has for denying Jesus three times, but I also think that Peter's first two "yes's" where superficial, and Jesus kept asking, as he wanted Peter to dig deeper. Jesus isn't much for superficial answers and really has a way to dig to the heart of the matter. That's a lesson for me from both John and Gone with the Wind. As I've said in this reading book before, I'm not very introspective. I should be try to be more so.

Overall I really liked the book. It's quite long but a relatively fast read (esp. compared to something like A Tale of Two Cities which I recently finished). It's a good story with lots of interesting characters and a fair amount of history mixed in, though not so much as a Michener book. Definitely worth it!

Kilauea: The Newest Land on Earth. Photo's by Dorian Weisel. Text by Christina Heliker.

This is another book I picked up in the Hilo airport on the Big Island on the way to Kauai. And just like the other, it would have been better to have this while in Volcanoes National Park, instead of after. This book also has some stunning photo's and really good information about the most recent flows....

 

Griffin & Sabine. Sabine's Notebook. The Golen Mean. The Gryphon.

.........

All by Nick Bantock.

These books were all at the Bed & Breakfast, Island Enchantment, that we stayed at on Kauai, and I found them quite fascinating so read them all while we were there. The 1st 3 were released in the early 90's as a trilogy, and the last one is the 1st in a new trilogy, so now I need to read the last two!

The books are postcards and letters (that you actually pull from envelopes and read) between correspondents, and they lead you through a somewhat strange relationship that grows over time. I've never seen a story presented this way -- it's quite unique, and makes it feel as though you are jumping in to a private correspondence.

 

Reflections of Kaua'i: The Garden Island.

This is another book that was at the Bed and Breakfast, left by former guests. This has stunning full page photo's and a lot of information about the history and folklore of the island. It was nice to flip through one evening while we were there. In fact, it had a lot of the same information that our helicopter tour guide gave us.

The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed. 4th Edition. Andrew Doughty & Harriett Friedman.

We borrowed this from Kim and Paul, who live on Oahu, as we travelled from the Big Island to Kauai, and then shipped it to them the day we left. You can pick this book up just about anywhere on the Island, but I suggest getting it before you go so you can do some research on what you want to do. We used it for many thing such as the hike along the Na Pali cost and the hike to Waipoo falls, reading about the helicopter tour companies, etc. This book is invaluable in helping you make decisions about what to do on the island. You'll also learn alot of the history/folklore of various places. I wish we had more than just 4 days to explore this wonderful place!

Hawai'i Volcanoes Nationa Park: Fire From Beneath the Sea. Barbara and Robert Decker.

I picked this up at the airport in Hilo on the way to Kauai. Should have bought it while we were actually staying in the park at the Kilauea Military Camp just after Christmas. We did several hikes in the are and drove Chain of Craters drive, and it would have been great to read this while there instead of after. Either way it is an excellent book with great pictures and information.